Disciplining the Devil: a rhetorical history of Tod Browning’s The Devil Doll (1936)

ABSTRACT

Critical scholars of media often limit their attention to the final version of a media product without much focus on the production process. In this essay, we encourage more attention to the processes that occur during production with particular emphasis on the development and revision of the script in an approach we call a rhetorical history of the text. Focusing on Tod Browning’s 1936 The Devil Doll, we observe the ways that the studio process systematically disciplined Browning’s initial conception of monstrosity. We note in particular the ways that Browning’s transgressive depiction of race and gender were recast into a more traditional form for the film’s final version.

KEYWORDS:

• Production history
• monstrosity
• race
• gender
• disability studies

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Robert Brookey and the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful feedback and support. We also acknowledge the support of the Cinematic Arts Library at the University of Southern California and the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Notes on contributors

Bernadette Marie Calafell (Ph.D., University of North Carolina) is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Denver.

Kendall R. Phillips (Ph.D., Penn State University) is Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University.

Notes

1 In some early versions of the screenplay, the main character was named Duval. His name was later changed to Paul Lavond in later scripts and in the final filmed version. Unlike the character of Nyleta, there are no major changes in the nature of the Lavond character and so, to avoid confusion, we have used the name Lavond throughout the essay.